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U.S. Ad Spending Rose 9.6%
In First Quarter of Year

By

Janet Whitman Dow Jones Newswires

Updated June 3, 2004 10:40 p.m. ET

NEW YORK -- Spending on advertising in the U.S. totaled $31.5 billion in the first three months of 2004, a 9.6% gain from the same period a year earlier when concerns about the Iraq War damped demand, an industry trade group said Thursday.

The increased spending, which got a big boost from the recovering economy, was greater than expected, which bodes well for the remainder of the year, Steven Fredericks, president and chief executive...